Two players from the Orioles organization played in Sunday's Dominican Summer League All-Star Game. They were on the South team that lost 9-7 to the North. Ricardo Andujar, a 21-year-old switch-hitting shortstop from Azua, Dominican Republic, got the start and went 1-for-3. Victor Romero, a 19-year-old right-hander from Los Teques, Venezuela, retired the only hitter he faced. Andujar is batting .358 to rank seventh in the DSL in 37 games for the O's DSL-1 team. Andujar has a .455 OBP, a...

I'm back home this afternoon after a nice visit with family in Ocean Pines. My fridge is filled with leftovers, the lineup including chicken piccata with angel hair pasta, chicken cacciatore with noodles, roast beef, mashed potatoes with sour cream, soft shell crabs and crab cakes. The beef stroganoff never made it into the cooler - I emptied that container in a few days - but we have homemade chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert Anybody hungry? Shortstop J.J. Hardy...

DENVER - So far in July, the Nationals are hitting an impressive .274 as a team, with a .771 OPS. From March through June, they hit .244 as a team, with a .691 OPS. They've scored 5.07 runs per game in July, up from 4.03 in the season's first three months. They're averaging 3.71 extra-base hits per July contest, compared to 2.69 per game from March through June. The offense, which was fairly hit-or-miss over the season's first three months (no pun intended), has started to come around on...

Manager: Walt Weiss, second year Record: 40-58 Last 10 games: 3-7 Who to watch: SS Troy Tulowitzki (.340/.432/.603, 18 doubles, 21 HR, 52 RBIs, 71 R); 1B Justin Morneau (.312/.345/.502, 20 doubles, 13 HR, 60 RBIs); RF Charlie Blackmon (.305/.351/.477, 17 doubles, 14 HR, 52 RBIs, 18 SB); LHP Jorge De La Rosa (10-6, 4.39 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) Season series vs. Nats: 0-3, 7 runs scored, 18 runs allowed Pitching probables July 21: Franklin Morales vs. Doug Fister, 8:30 p.m., MASN HD July 22: TBA vs....

As America commemorated 45 years since the first human steps on the moon Sunday, the Nationals were celebrating some milestones and anniversaries of their own on the way to their 53rd victory of 2013, a 5-4 walk-off win over Milwaukee. Gio Gonzalez labored through one of his more difficult starts of the season, but he collected five strikeouts in his 3 1/3-inning stint. The last of those, dealt to Rickie Weeks leading off the third, was the 1,000th of Gonzalez's career. In his seventh...

Manager: Mike Scioscia, 15th year Record: 59-38 Last 10 games: 8-2 Who to watch: CF Mike Trout (.313/.400/.612, 29 doubles, 23 HR, 74 RBIs, 69 R); 1B Albert Pujols (.276/.326/.483, 20 doubles, 20 HR, 65 RBIs, 59 R); LF Josh Hamilton (.293/.372/.440, 18 XBH, 27 RBIs); RHP Jered Weaver (10-6, 3.43 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) Season series vs. O's (2013): 2-5, 27 runs scored, 30 runs allowed Pitching probables July 21: Matt Shoemaker vs. Bud Norris, 10 p.m., MASN2 HD July 22: Hector Santiago vs. Miguel...

A quick check of your calendar will serve as a simple reminder that this is the season of the rumor in baseball. Sure, there's that little period in December called the Winter Meetings, but in terms of in-season action, this is when it starts to get good. Everything is leading up to about 11 days from now when the non-waiver trade deadline hits and we really see what teams are contenders and which ones are pretenders. For the Orioles, it's pretty clear they are the former. The Birds find...

That one play, really that one at-bat, made the game. Bottom of the ninth, Anthony Rendon at first base, two outs. Brewers reliever Rob Wooten was on the cusp of getting out of the inning. He had relied on his slider and curveball to get to two outs and had made it difficult for any Nationals to get a good swing. But veteran Jayson Werth is known for waiting out pitchers. He makes them come to him. He waited for Wooten to throw a strike. And he couldn't early in the at-bat. A mixture of...

Are the Orioles headed from the frying pan into the fire? They have left Oakland, where they faced the team with the best record in the majors, to head to Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels, who have baseball's second-best record. The Angels are 59-38 and while they trail Oakland by 1 1/2 games for the American League West lead, they are red-hot right now and have the best home record in baseball. On Sunday, the Angels scored twice in the ninth off Seattle's Fernando Rodney to turn a...

The Orioles will make a roster move today, recalling pitcher Bud Norris from Double-A Bowie and optioning a reliever or one of their catchers. They won't carry three of them all season. Steve Clevenger didn't get a start in Oakland and is vulnerable, but we'll see. He did catch the bottom of the eighth yesterday as manager Buck Showalter cleared his bench. Showalter may want to carry the extra bullpen arm after yesterday's debacle in Oakland. Preston Guilmet worked the eighth, but he...